Tata Zest 1.2 Revotron Petrol Review: A Zesty New Beginning

1.2 Liter Revotron Engine, Transmission and Performance

The Zest comes powered with the much talked about 1.2 liter turbocharged ‘Revotron’ petrol engine. The key specs of the engine, equipped with a high-boost, Honeywell sourced, custom-designed turbocharger, are impressive. The 1193 cc engine delivers best in class power of 90PS @ 5000 rpm and more importantly, a healthy peak torque of 140Nm between a low 1750-3500 rpm. The engine comes mated with a 5 speed manual transmission.

Now, the very mention of a turbocharged engine would create the impression of a go-faster machine with a pronounced turbo kick-in in the average Joe’s mind. However, the Revotron engine has been very cleverly designed and engineered to suit the requirements of the Indian customers. The small turbocharged unit amazed us with its low-revs tractability and smoothness. Quite honestly, we haven’t really driven a small turbo-petrol engine with so much juice available at the very bottom of the barrel.

Tuned for low rev response, the 1.2 Revotron engine delights in stop-go city traffic. Baffled by the unruffled behavior of the engine (no spluttering, no stalling, no knocking) even at a meager 1000 rpm, we decided to put it to an even more difficult test. Having put the car in fifth gear, we let the ar roll without any throttle input. To our absolute astonishment, the revs dropped to a sleepy 600 rpm, and the car kept trundling along at crawling speeds owing to the torque at hand. It wouldn’t stall even at this point. Astounding!

Sure, burying the right pedal at this point wouldn’t do anything to the car’s speed. The engine would take its own sweet time getting back its breath from the strangulated state we put it in, and build some revs, but wasn’t what it did just amazing! Moreover, the engine starts responding to throttle inputs from as low as 1000 rpm, which essentially means that you can drive this car in fifth gear all day long (if you really wished to), as long as you don’t have to come to a standstill.

With its water-cooled turbo-charger and low inertia wheel the Revotron unit delivers a fast, flat response, at the lowest RPM. Now, that sort of tractability, coupled with a turbo’s added torque and Indian drivers’ tendency to stay in a higher gear should endow this engine with great in-city efficiency. Highway efficiency should be remarkable too.

You can choose between Eco, City and Sport modes. The three modes, essentially, are three separate engine maps on the Electronic Control Unit which determines various parameters such as fuel-air mixture through FI, throttle response etc to define the engine character. You can choose the modes from the center console, where you have designated buttons for choosing Eco or Sport drive modes.

In ECO mode, the engine feels rather sluggish, but if it’s a light foot and moderate speeds at which you wish to drive then the ECO mode will enhance your fuel efficiency substantially.

City mode is the default mode and will be chosen automatically every time you turn the ignition on. It fuses good throttle response with optimum fuel efficiency, and is the ideal choice for everyday driving.

The Engagement of Sport mode does bring some added zing to the car’s character. We heard a muted turbine like whistling sound in this mode with every throttle input. The response right from low engine speeds is pronounced, and the car feels perceptibly livelier than the other two modes.

It must, however, be noted that the 1.2 Revotron engine, as mentioned earlier, is oriented towards driveability and efficiency and not outright performance. So if you’re looking for a turbo klick-in, or a sudden burst of power, you’d be disappointed as there is none. The engine is extremely linear with strong low to mid-range response. The performance tapers off towards the top end of the rev range.

The 1.2 Revotron engine delighted us with its silky smooth nature and terrific pulling capabilities in higher gears at low speeds. However, if you are looking at the Zest 1.2 powered by Revotron as a medium to quench your thirst for performance and power, then you are probably mistaken. Even with its 90 PS of power and 140 Nm of torque, the Zest’s petrol engine isn’t too keen to rev to the moon and back. This unit excels in delivering effortless, efficient and hassle free driving at everyday speeds, and that’s what it should be recognized and appreciated for. Look elsewhere if it’s sheer kicks you’re looking at.

The ARAI efficiency figures for the Zest have not been supplied to the media yet. We’ll append this review with the efficiency figures as soon as we get hold of them.

Next page for ride and handling>>>